Unlikely Survival
by FliscentFiretail
Summary: A girl from our world finds herself drowning in a car wreck, only, the lake is actually a portal left by the God Tree, and she finds her in an alien world, filled with ninja, chakra and terror. With no hope and nothing to return to she resigns herself to the looming death that seems to be rapidly approaching. Only, thing are never that easy. Sometimes survival isn't a choice.
1. Chapter 1

_**Unlikely Survival**_

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**Author Note:**

****This story is being revised and reposted.****

**** ...****

****Not much is going to be changed, things are just going to be explained a bit better, and there will be a bit less mystery.****

****...****

****The rating on this story is going to be changed to T****

**** because it will contain adult content such as ****

**foul language, mature situations****.**

**... **

****There will be darker aspects to the story later, perhaps, if the plot bunnies breed as planned or not planned. -_-* you know how bunnies get in plot season...****

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**Disclaimer: I do no own Naruto, or any of its character, Kishimoto does. I only own my original characters.**

**Warnings: Language. There are a few curse words in this chapter**

_Italics are Thoughts_

**Bold is English**

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**Preface **

_Once long ago there was a great tree that grew taller than the mountains, containing unimaginable power in its very being. This divine tree not only grew in one dimension but many, its roots intertwined with its reflections, connecting one world to another. One day, in one of these worlds, the power of the divine tree was stolen by a mortal woman who ate the thousand year fruit, taking the power into herself. Without its power, the divine tree began craving a replacement. Kaguya would sacrifice people to the tree to appease it until there came the day the tree was no longer appeased. Starving for its power the divine tree began rampaging, hunting all that had a life to replace the power it had lost in Kaguya's world while the other tree began to wither without its counterpart, its power sinking into its roots in an attempt to balance both worlds. The rampaging divine tree was named the Ten tails and sealed in the sky by one of Kaguya's sons. All the while, the other tree continued collapsing into itself, leaving a large scar in the land itself in the shape of a gaping hole, its sap and power sinking into the ground. These two gaping holes in the ground where the two great trees once were, were filled with water over time. In the bottom of this lake, the great trees roots still entwined, linking both worlds together with the power of the other tree. _

**_475 years later_**

_A young man sighed tiredly as he took a seat at the base of a pine tree, his breathing heightened from exertion. It was clear from his appearance that he had been hiking for several days, and from his gear, it was clear he was a trapper. He paused in mid sip as he felt eyes on him. Slowly turning, he saw a pair of anxious dark eyes watching him from the bushes before the child darted off, her bronze skin and pitch black hair marking as one of the natives of this new world he had journeyed to. The man shook his head in aggravation and got up. If there was a child in the area, a parent or hunting party wouldn't be too far off and the last thing the French fur trader wanted to do was have a conflict with one of the Native tribes because he was seen too close to one of their offspring. With that he swiftly began his descent down the mountainside, heading towards his next round of traps. He looked around as he descended the pines, wary of the larger beasts that lived in this area. It was truly a pain to travel all the way out here and not for the first time the young man thought of bringing a team with him on these trapping trips. The area itself was truly startling in its majesty. It was a perfect ring of mountains, their slopes meeting high creating steep rides and saddles, a circle of a valley, and at its base an enormous lake with a large island in the middle. For some reason, there were no people in this area, and the young man wondered for the umpteenth time why the native tribes avoided such a bountiful hunting ground._

_It wasn't until late afternoon that he had made his way to the base of the valley, the shadows already growing long as the sun was eclipsed by the might of the mountains peaks. He swept his long blond hair out of his face as his inquisitive blue eyes scanned the shoreline. Perhaps he should do some fishing before calling it a night. Or perhaps he should just get a bath. It had been several days and it would be first time actually approaching the lake. The water looked crystal clear, and he found his mouth watering to drink some with how clean it was. Stripping his tunic and breeches off, the young man removed his undergarment before wading into the perfect water, marveling as he dove into it's depth. he surfaced with a laugh before proceeding. He continued to swim well away from shore, awed by how far he could see into its blue depths. _

_He dove once more, curious if he could see all the way to the bottom. As he swam deeper he suddenly froze, a shadow from the left catching his eye and he turned sharply trying to spot what had moved. After a moment a chill that had nothing to do with the water filled his as he looked too and fro searching the water for any fish, minnows, turtles, reeds, seaweed, anything. _

_There was nothing, no life, not even a floating particle and he froze as his blue eyes locked with the deepest depths of the lake. He continued to stare transfixed at the sight before him uncomprehending before his eyes slowly widened in utter awe when he finally understood. They were huge, barely seeable considering how far down they were and it once again struck him how freakishly clear the water was, something that once thrilled him now sending a thrill of fear through his body. They were the roots of a great tree, gnarled and twisted like enormous water serpents in the water's depths hidden deep in the lakes depths and mountain's shadows. A shadow flashed in the corner of the man's eye once more and without hesitation he broke the surface of the water, swimming as hard as he could for shore, fear turning his breath ragged as terror burned through him. He saw the shadow out of the corner of his eye again, and then again, and again, each time fast and closer than before. He felt the whisper of something along his ankle and a scream of terror broke the air as he continued kicking wildly. There was nothing hesitant about the next time it grabbed his ankle and his scream was cut short as he was dragged swiftly under the surface, the ripples in the water fading unnaturally fast. The little girl that had followed him into the valley took off up the valley ridge, terror in her heart as she raced home. She had always been warned by her elders of the tribe to never venture to this place for fear of meeting an evil spirit that had taken up residence in the lake down below_. She ran in a flurry of tears as she hears something begin to pursue her, a mere whisper of movement across the screamed with terror as she was suddenly whisked away by a shadowy creature. When her tribe searched for her all they found was one on of her little shoes.

**_525 years later - Present day, Land of the Elemental Nations_**

_It was quiet that evening, the sky fiery and fierce as the sunset on a dying day. Soon the rich purples faded across the sky, leaving only seeping indigo on the horizon. The Anbu patrolman paused on his path around the Lake, to take in the peaceful sight of the summer fireflies flashing and glowing as they flew over the water. The Anbu couldn't help but grin behind his porcelain mask as one flew up to him, a finger already offered to the large glowing bug. It landed for a moment before drifting off across the water once more to join with its fellow lightning bugs. _

_The Anbu smiled at the bugs, before taking a deep breath, enjoying the fresh scents of water and brush that surrounded him. It was so peaceful, so pleasant. Throughout the years, the man had learned to appreciate the moments like this. After all, with the violence and missions that made up daily life for an Anbu Operative in general, such serenity was far and few in between. Letting his breath back out with a sigh of contentment at the calming sounds surrounding his person's, he couldn't help but think it was such a beautiful night._

_All of sudden the lake began to glow from within startling the Anbu from his thoughts and bringing his focus to the lake. The glowing bugs that had been slowly drifting in a lazy manner before, started to swirl in beautiful, but erratic patterns across the water. A wind picked up, causing ripples to form across the once calm water's surface. _

_**Looks like another person is coming through the lake tonight**__**,**__** and so soon too**__,__ thought the man. He barely had time to finish the thought before there was a sharp hiss of metal. He had only time for a shocked and panicked look to cross his face before his head left his body to land in the dewy grass, his body crumpling into a heap behind it. There was a slight chuckle from the shadows, followed by a pale man with long dark hair and golden eyes with a slit pupil stepping into the moonlight. Around his eyes were strange purple eye markings, which made his exotic eyes become even more of a focus. Right now though, those eyes were wide open in a clear display of excited blood lust, due to the thick metallic smell of it now tainting the once lovely night air._

_"Orochimaru-sama," said a voice from the shadows, a group of four appearing beside him in the dim light._

_"Sound four. Report," the pale man answered with a raspy hiss._

_"We have located the subjects that you were seeking. A woman and a boy. It looks like the Intel was correct. It also appears that there is one more coming through the portal tonight." Said the leader quietly. _

_The pale man chuckled, a grim look of satisfaction twisting over his features. "Good. We will wait for our newest test subject to arrive. Once they are through the lake, we will take the boy and the woman with us, along with the new arrival. Tanyu, Juu, go and retrieve Karin. We will need her sooner than we thought."_

_"Ah," replied both the kneeling figures before they disappeared in a flurry of shadows. Orochimaru smirked as he returned his attention back to the lake. He was so close to immortality that he could almost taste it._

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**Chapter 1: A Brave New World**

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**Present Day Canada**

In the dark of her room sat a young woman named Samira, her knees drawn to her chest with her arms wrapped around them as slight tremors shook her shoulders, at her repressed sobs. The woman's short brown hair was mussed and tangled, in the need of a good brushing as dark bags shown underneath her eyes, from the many nights of little to no sleep.

"Just where is she?" she whispered to the dark of the room. Her best friend had gone missing a few days ago. Samira had been part of the searches and sweeps through the woods that had taken place before the searches where called off suddenly today. She sighed tiredly as tears slips past her eyelids and began making their journey down the sickly pale skin of her lower face. She was worried sick.

_'Just where is Antonia?'_ Thought the young woman.

A phone begins to ring down the hallway from her room, the sound muffled slightly as it bounced through the silent apartment. This drew the woman's attention from whatever morbid thoughts she was having, but the sound didn't bring her comfort. Tightening her hold on her legs, her brown eyes darted to the hallway where the red flash of the phone's light reflected off the dimly lit walls. Soon the phones shrill ringing is cut off to be replaced by a young woman's voice saying cheerfully, "Hey there! This is Samira Cloud! I'm sorry I'm not able to come to the phone right now, but please leave your name, number, and message at the tone and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks!"

A loud beep sounded for a few minutes and then a distinctly male voice hesitantly spoke, "Hey there… Um, it's Brian… Ah, listen… they… they found her car." At this the young woman's hold on her legs tightened to the point they began to lose feeling and her fingers turned white from the death grip.

Brian had been part of the searches and was a good friend of hers, being her step brother and all. He had been dealing with some of the higher ups since he was a police officer, their father soon to fly in later today. He had promised to let her know the moment they found anything. With the tone of his voice however, her throat tightened in anticipated dread, making it hard for her to breathe as she waited for the man to say anything more. She didn't have long to wait as his voice now chocked with sadness continued in a whisper, "I-It was found in the lake… off of Richmond Bridge. Samira… they can't find a body but… they… don't think that she… made it. I'm so sorry. I wish-" Another loud beep cut him off as his time had run out, but she didn't need to hear anymore.

Tears where now pouring freely as the young woman, Samira, began to shake harder, her face now buried in her knees. Soon a keening wail was heard from her as she grabbed a pillow, crushing it to her as she desperately wished that it wasn't true, that she hadn't just lost her sister.

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Two months later found Samira standing in her old room as she regarded it coolly, dull brown eyes taking in the sparseness of it, the lack of personal effects and color, lifeless and devoid of human touch. Satisfied, she finished putting the last sheet over the wardrobe before closing the door to her room behind her. She hated this place. It held so many bad memories, memories from her childhood, memories about her parents. About fights and cheating and alcohol and death. Loosing Antonia though had been the last straw for Samira though, and she couldn't bring herself to keep the old place any longer.

It was more than a little mystifying. Why had Toni come back? Their family had moved away shortly after Samira's parents had passed away and Tony's family had pushed through the adoption papers. They had known her since she was young, so when her parents had passed away at age fifteen, they hadn't hesitated.

So why come back? Looking over the old items left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Going down the hallway and past the living room she took in the sheet covered furniture as she went before finally pausing one last time to take in her childhood home, knowing that she wouldn't be returning. Content that everything was where it should be and that she hadn't forgotten anything important she locked the old black door behind her before stepping off the porch and down the steps that led to her waiting car below, boxes and luggage easily seen stacked up, blocking out most of the windows of her car.

Getting in, she forwent the radio, instead opting for silence as she drove, the only sounds being heard were those made by the rumble of the engine and the hum of the tires on the wet road. Brown eyes took in the misty coverage of autumn before a soft sigh fell past her lips, her grip on the steering wheel tightening as she thought of how much Antonia had loved the fall. It felt like her heart was tightening in her chest as she drove, knowing that she was going to have to say goodbye before she left.

Soon the Richmond Bridge came into sight and she swallowed roughly, thoughts and emotions a jumbled mess. This was where it had happened. This is where Toni had… Samira took a deep breath as she struggled to control her rising grief as the sound of the tires changed when she entered the new stretch of concrete and steel that was the bridge. It wasn't long for a bridge despite the stunning lake it crossed or the majestic ring of mountains that encircled the lake. In fact it was rather on the short side, but it had been long enough, high enough for her to lose her closest friend when the car had gone flying over the edge and into the still waters bellow.

Samira suddenly jolted when a sudden sharp pain flashed from her leg. She cringed and slapped her leg, grimacing when she spotted the dead ant under her hand. Looking up, her eyes widened at the large shadowy figure standing in the middle of her lane that hadn't been there two seconds ago.

"FUCK!" she cursed, panicked. Without another thought, she slammed on the brakes and turned the steering wheel sharply to the side in hopes of missing the person.

There was a high squealing sound as the rubber tried to grip the wet concrete until suddenly, the car was flipping. There was an ominous crunch as it hit the railing, flying over the edge and into the cold waters down below. The occupant of the car could barely get out a scream as she saw her world go from steady level road, to a swirly chaotic blur, only to then settle on the swiftly approaching greyish blue of the lake, which she could barely see over the dull white of her deployed air bag.

An ear deafening smack was heard as the car hit the water making a giant splash. Samira's head whipped back and forth from the impact and she let out a cry as her head hit something hard and unyielding. Feeling disoriented, she struggled to regain her balance as the car continued to shake and groan as it sank deeper into the water. The sting of the seat belt as it cut into the middle of her chest, which was sure to leave a bruise later, helped bring her mind back into some type of focus and onto the situation at hand.

Focusing now on her cracked windshield, she saw the grey depths of the water that surrounded her as air bubbles shoot past her. The heavy metal car, loaded with luggage, was sinking rapidly. The sound of trickling water filled the almost dead silence and she could feel the coolness of it start to soak her shoes. Looking down panic once again filled her as she noticed the water trickling in around the frame of the door, causing the water level in the care to slowly rise. Trying to think of what to do around her panic, Samira was once again hindered as her head began to throb in pain from where she had hit it.

"I-I need to get out," she whispered to herself as some blood began to dribble down the left side of her face and into her eye, which stung like hell and made her unable to see out of that eye. All her thoughts however where paused when a high pitched cracking sound was heard. Samira's eyes immediately where drawn to the windshield where a spider web of cracks where slowly beginning to grow from a central crack as the car sunk deeper and deeper into the swiftly darkening waters. _The water pressure_, she thought with growing panic as she watched the windshield continue to crack under the growing strain. She struggled against her belt frantically, knowing that her time was running out. Clink. Ping. She froze eyes wide as she stared at the windshield, taking a deep breath, knowing what was going to come next.

Whoosh! The glass finally gave way under the water pressure and she raised her hands in time to protect her face as the glass blasted into the car along with rushing torrents of water. A sharp stinging started up in her arms and chest as the glass hit her in several places. The force of the water pushing her back into her seat leaving her defenseless as it powerfully rushed in, trying to force itself into her lungs and up her nose.

Samira began to thrash wildly in panic, but the powerful torrents of water and still buckled seat belt held her firmly in place. As the car continued to sink, the light from the surface began to grow dimmer and dimmer, turning the once grey blue water to black and leaving Samira completely blind in the suffocating icy depths of waters embrace. _I should have hit bottom by now, _her thoughts sluggish as her mind screamed for air and her struggles began to weaken.

That's when the car sank past a dark still shape in the water, making Samira tense as she continued to clumsily try to detach her belt. She frowned as she noticed another dark shape pass and she groggy comprehended with a massive wave of confusion that it looked like a giant tree root and that the water was no longer a pitch black, but seemed to be returning to its grey blue state it was when she first entered. This made it easier for her to actually see more clearly and as she passed another shape Samira could defiantly tell it was a giant tree root.

_I must be hallucinating,_ she thought dizzily as her lungs continued to burn for air, _there's no way I could survive this. It's too late. Oh well, might as well…_ she thought before taking in the breath that her lungs so desperately required. She shuddered and jerked wildly at the foreign and uncomfortable sensation of her lungs filling with the water, not even noticing the car starting to drift upward at a faster rate than before. She blinked rapidly as her vision began to falter, spots swimming before her eyes, as she took another breath of water, wild shudders running through her frame before the car broke through the surface of the water.

With a loud roaring sound the water poured out of the broken windows and cracks in the doors. As soon as the water was past her head her body reacted even more violently, trying to make her double over and expel as much of the foul liquid from its system as possible. Samira coughed and hacked as her upper body pushed against the restraining force. Finally done ejecting the glowing liquid from her lungs she sat slumped and shuddering against the steering wheel, utterly exhausted.

At this point a random thought wandered into her fatigued mind, _glowing water?_ But her mind was too tired to puzzle it out. Closing her eyes and taking many deep breaths, she began the process of trying to calm her body and gain some semblance of peace after that whole ordeal. It wasn't until the soft blue light surrounding her began to dim that she opened her eyes and began to become aware of her surroundings as she continued to greedily gulp down precious air. That was when she spotted the figures with dark eyes and bone white masked faces surrounding her.

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**Elemental Nations**

Morino Ibiki was not a patient man. While he could be when it was required of him, by nature he was generally not so generous. Many could attest to this, seeing as the man was the head of the Hidden Leaf's Torture and Investigation unit. Standing at over six feet tall, with a powerful build, a scarred rugged face, and cold black eyes, he was well suited for his job of wringing information out of his subjects.

The men that where traveling with him however, were greatly testing his limited patience, with their fruitless chatter. The journey had been twenty miles on foot, an easy and fast feat for ninja but still. It was grating on his nerves. Sighing the man shoved his black gloved hands into his pockets, stern face darkening with his growing irritation as his black trench coat whirled behind him in his wake.

In an effort to tune the chattering men out, the irritated man let his mind turn instead to the subject of his current mission. The scarred man's eyes narrowed as he thought back to what the Hokage had told him, about how Orochimaru had broken into the Forbidden Lake and past a very powerful barrier before making off with three of the people who had come from the lake, earlier this week.

Ibiki scratched his chin distractedly, the rough pull of stubble ghosting across his gloves as his thought turned to the mystery of the lake and it's people. The people that would come out of the lake where always a bit of a unknown whenever they came through, as Ibiki could recall from his youth when he had first been introduced to the top secret location of the lake. He had remembered seeing the waters begin to glow blue and the shadows start to rise from the depths of the lake before a drowned and bedraggled man was ejected from the waters, hacking and gasping as he struggled to stay afloat. That had been years ago, the man long dead.

In fact, all the people that came through had a tendency to die off quickly, though the Hidden Leaf had managed to come up with a few ways to extend their short lives, even if it was only by a couple of months, or years if they were extra lucky. They had never figured out however how to extend these people's lives to a regular hundred year old life span. Most of the time they got only a couple of years at best, despite all the Hidden leaf's years of study and research.

So the question to ask is why would Orochimaru, after all these years, suddenly decide to break into the Lake and steal some of the subjects that had come through?

It's not like they lived long to be interesting or useful test subjects to the insane scientist. It was troubling to say the least that Ibiki couldn't even guess at why the twisted genius wanted the subjects badly enough to come get them himself, if the reports were correct.

Ibiki and the group traveling with him came to a halt when an Anbu agent suddenly appeared in their path. "State your business," demanded the masked man in a monotone voice, holding his sword poised to strike.

"I am Morino Ibiki, Head of the Torture and Investigation Unit. I have been sent by the third Hokage to gather reports of the incident and transport any remaining subjects back to Konoha," he stated handing over a scroll before the Anbu's gaze turned to the men traveling with him.

"We are the barrier squad that the third Hokage sent to replace or fix the current barrier around the lake. We are also to investigate the means that Orochimaru used to bypass the current barrier," declared the leader of the squad.

The Anbu nodded, flash stepping away to allow them to continue. Ibiki returned to his thoughts, but was interrupted once again by the members of the barrier squad continuing on with their gossip amongst themselves, much to his frustration.

"I heard that the Forbidden Lake is a base for top secret experimentation," murmured one man, as he brushed his shaggy bown bangs out of his eyes as his companions gave him a serious look.

"Well, It wouldn't be the first. It _**is**_ a top secret location. That would explain why Orochimaru came himself to the lake." Said another as the youngest of their group hummed in agreement and nodded.

"Senpai is usually the one sent to take care of the barrier, so this will be the first time that I've seen it.," said the youth as his comrades looked to one another before continuing to talk quietly.

"Well, you'll be seeing it soon enough. We should be getting pretty close," assured the team captain before the men nodded and continued their pointless chatter.

Ibiki sighed in mild relief and exasperation, glad that they didn't actually have full clearance to the topic. Knowing how the barrier squad liked to gossip, it wouldn't have been wise to tell them half of what was going on inside the base. The group stopped short when they realized that through the dark trees before them, a barrier was beginning to glow.

"Crap, that must be it," muttered one of the barrier team before the men sprang into action preparing their scrolls.

Ibiki disregarded them, running directly toward the barrier until he came to a stop before it, his eyes narrowing instead as he observed the fluctuating barrier before him. He swiftly performed the sequence coded needed and bypassed the barrier. Moving swiftly toward the glowing lake, examining in the Anbu that milled around the edge of the glowing water.

Reaching the small research building that was stationed on the edge of the lake, Ibiki stopped in front of the door joining in with all the other eyes that were directed toward the large shadow that was slowly rising from the center of the lake. A minute later an alien looking silver container of sorts appeared, looking like a horseless carriage, only this had windows and a large gaping hole in the front, where a window used to be, judging by the glass still clinging stubbornly to the edges. The sound of coughing and hacking filled the air as water poured out of the odd contraption. A young bedraggled brunette woman was sitting upright in a seat, before she slumped forward, her harsh breaths filling the air, shudders running through her every now and then.

As the light began to dim from the glowing waters, the head Anbu motioned that it was safe and the teams immediately set out over the water to retrieve the brunette from her odd looking carriage. The door behind Ibiki opened and a young medical ninja quickly came out of it, letting the door bang shut, in his rush to get across the lake to the odd carriage and the Anbu milling around the silent young woman. Ibiki's eyes narrowed in curiosity as he heard the young woman's ragged breathing catch as she finally registered the people surrounding her vehicle.

The young medic called at the Anbu agents to get out of his way so he could see his patient and they reluctantly parted for him. Finally making it to the edge of the circle he stepped forward and in a soothing voice tried to coax her to come out. "Don't be afraid Miss. My name is Taro. I'm a medic. These people are just here to protect you. We need to look at you to make sure that you're alright, ok?" During his talk he had carefully crept forward and opened her car door as he finished.

Ibiki took in the tensing of her shoulders and the way her eyes darted around, confusion and wariness clear in their depths, while her face remained blank. **"Where am I?"** she demanded in English, making no move to leave the car.

The medic halted, blinking at her in mild surprise from the steel he had heard in her voice. Her eyes bore mercilessly into his and he had to hold back the urge to swallow uneasily. At least they knew what language she knew how to speak. Changing tracks quickly, the medic began to speak in English back to her, **"Well, you had an accident miss-"**

**"Yes. In fact, I should probably be dead. But that doesn't change the fact that I want to know where I am,**" she said calmly as her eyes carefully took stock of the people around her, her eyes lingering on Ibiki for a moment before returning to the young uncertain medic before her.

**"Ah, please miss, you need medical attention-"**

**"I don't want any medical attention. Hey! Get away from my car! All of you!" ** Ibiki snorted and moved toward the door of the research building that was behind him, feeling amused at the poor medic's plight as the young man started to protest.

He was sure that the young man was going to have one hell of a time trying to explain to the brunette that she was in an entirely different dimension with no hope of getting back home. Missing a beat in his step Ibiki speculated on the new thought that just hit him, _Perhaps it's for the knowledge that the people possess_. Falling easily back into his rhythm as if he never faltered, Ibiki ran with the thought, for it would definitely explain Orochimaru's suddenly renewed interest in the forbidden lake.

It was true that even though it had been difficult, the Hidden Leaf had gained at least three full languages that were used as code by Anbu Black Ops, both spoken and written, one of the main codes being English, which was what the young woman had been speaking in. Ibiki's thoughts trailed back to the days he had been forced to learn the odd language, before rubbing his forehead and giving a tired sigh. No, that couldn't be it.

From the brief report, Orochimaru had taken a young woman, a boy and the boy's mother, killing two other subjects that had come from the lake and taking no documents with him, making it highly unlikely that that was the man's objective. _Perhaps the rest of the detailed reports would help, _with that thought he moved into the building, looking for the director of the facility.

Ibiki found the man with ease a few seconds later, as the facility wasn't that huge, and now he sat in a small chair in front of the older man with a frown on his face. The man in front of him, known only as the Director, had short cut black hair with speckles of grey throughout and a long narrow nose with a pair of black rimmed glasses perched at the top. His face was long and came to a point at his chin, but at the moment was haggard with the stress the week had brought. Giving a sigh of weariness his grey eyes met Ibiki's stare head on and began his report, something Ibiki had to respect the man for, since the Director didn't flinch or cower at his intimidating stare.

"The barrier was breached without detection at 23 hundred hours, give or take thirty minutes. We later found several patrol members dead, mostly having their heads severed. We weren't made aware of their presence however until another young woman had come out of the lake. By then, they decided to act, reaching her before we could get to her, with the other two subjects in tow, the mother and her child," said the graying man.

"The mother and her son?" asked Ibiki with a frown.

The Director nodded grimly, face drawn. "Yes. They killed two other subjects."

"You mean two subjects that had come out of the lake previously?" Ask the head of the T and I with a frown. If the man would just stop calling the people 'subjects,' they could probably get through this conversation a bit faster. The Director nodded, lips tightening, though sadness could still be seen in his eyes.

"Yes, an older man and a teen boy." Ibiki frowned deeply as the man continued speaking.

"They were killed on the enemy's way out of the building, so we're not sure if it was subjects in general they wanted for experimentation or if it was specific to the three that were taken." The Director said with a grimace.

Ibiki hummed in thought, ever present scowl unchanging, "Any patters regarding the people that were taken?"

"Well, I suppose all of them where on the young side, and all had recently come out of the lake. The woman and her son had come out of the lake a couple of days before the attack, and the other subject they took had just come through. None of them had begun treatments yet to prolong their life spans. Do you think there's a connection?" asked the Director.

Ibiki's frown deepened slightly, "Of course. To what purpose though?" he murmured before sighing in frustration as he scanned the report in his hand. There seemed to be more questions than answers. "You say that there were six raiders in total?" Ibiki confirmed.

The Director nodded, "Yes. There were four main fighters, Orochimaru, and a young red haired female that didn't participate in the fighting, instead staying near the taken subjects."

"Interesting," Ibiki muttered before glancing up in curiosity as a large splash was heard outside, along with a wail of wind that hadn't been there before.

The Directors eyes narrowed and he lifted the blinds to the window, taking in a sharp breath at the scene unfolding in front of him. Ibiki's eyes widened slightly in surprise as well at the scene, before something happened that normally didn't around the Head of the Torture and Investigation Unit Leader, a quick deep chuckle left his mouth. "It's always so interesting to see what they do, isn't it Director?" said Ibiki, amusement clear in his voice as the Director's shoulders tensed.

"Not anymore. That's a bit on the new side though," said the graying man, his attention on the young woman who was currently struggling in the grip of two Anbu, with another standing in front of her wet and cringing in pain as he cupped his manhood. After all, it wasn't every day that one of the people in the lake had enough energy to fight back.

"Hold her steady," snapped the young medic at the Anbu as the young woman continued to flail wildly, curses being snarled across the water. What made the Director and Ibiki frown however wasn't the fact that the young woman was struggling so violently; it was the fact that the water under the Anbu team was starting to roil and whirl, as the wind picking up. The Director headed back to his desk with a weary sigh as he began going through paper work with a frown as Ibiki continued to watch their prisoner flail with unease. A storm was now beginning to brew in the previously tranquil night, the deep rumble of thunder growing closer.

"You seem to know what's going on? With the weather?" asked Ibiki as the Director looked up for a moment before looking back down to finish writing something.

"Yes. Since all subjects that come through the lake have no chakra to begin with, they have no elemental affinity, or I guess you could say they have a complete affinity for every element. Because of that, most can manipulate natural energy without meaning to when they first arrive, especially when they are upset or feel threatened." his tone distracted as Ibiki's eyes widened in surprise, not only at the information but at the Director's lack of concern.

"I'm assuming that that's most of the time," Ibiki muttered with a frown. If he had drowned in a lake and appeared in a random location we would be very upset as well.

"Is this a normal occurrence?" he asked with a gesture to the clouds as the Director make a noncommittal sound before standing to restack his paperwork before looking up, his attention once more returned to Ibiki so that he could flash Ibiki a grin. It was at that moment a bolt of lightning struck the ground next to their building, causing Ibiki to dive for the floor. The Director let lose a hearty laugh as Ibiki continued to curse from his spot on the floor when another bolt of lightning struck.

"I guess you could say that," the Director said with a chuckle as Ibiki shot the other man a glare.

….

It had been disconcerting for Samira when the young medic had approached her speaking Japanese. In all honesty she could understand and speak Japanese just fine, but she had just had been through a bit of a traumatic experience and wasn't feeling inclined to speak in his language any time soon. In all honesty it was probably for the best, she realized as the masked militants dragged her kicking and screaming across the lake, her assailants walking on water as easy as you please to her awe and mild terror. (How the hell were they walking on water?!) It meant that they had no idea that she could understand them and she got the impression that it was common for them to be able to speak Japanese in front of others without anyone being the wiser of what was said with the lack of censorship or tact in their words as they talked about her to her face in manners that were either rude or shocking. In fact she was learning a lot from their unrestrained conversation as it flowed around her, the men dragging her towards a large compound.

"Should we put her in with the other one?"

"Sure why not. The old woman is going to be dying soon anyways, she's been here for more than six months. Maybe she can get the new one to become more compliant after speaking to her. I don't want her kicking me again. And don't let her bite. One of them did that to Boar once and their change started too soon and they died since the medical staff wasn't ready to initiate it yet. Boar got double shifts for two months for not being careful enough," said the senior of the two masked militants as they dragged Samira along who was currently breathing hard with fear and anger. She snarled in fury when something was suddenly jabbed into her leg from behind and she turned to find the medic with a syringe jabbed into her leg.

Her fury peaked and there was a sudden flash of lightning from the heavens that struck the tree besides the group with a terrifying boom causing everyone in the group to curse, yell, or in the medic's case, run off screaming leaving the syringe in her leg. She snarled again and began shaking the appendage to shake the syringe free from her skin as the guards rushed to get her to the bunker. She glared after the medic with hate and another bolt struck where he had been before he managed to dive into a building for cover just in time. She continued to hurl every profanity she could think of across the clearing in the young man's direction as her guards finally reached the bunker before shoving a door open and dragging her inside, weaving down the hallways with mildly practiced ease. Medic out of sight, she directed her ire towards her guards who began cursing in Japanese at her bad temper. Finally reaching their destination the two called out in relief as a young woman in a lab coat met them at the door of a cell they were dragging her towards.

"Oh thank god you're here Hana, this one doesn't know how to stay still." He grunted in effort as Samira struggled to rip her arm free. The man strained against her with a groan of effort.

"Fuck! Why are they always so fucking strong?!" he complained as the woman, Hana, used a code on the door.

"We think their planet is actually larger than our and has a higher gravitational force due to having higher mass and density. Or maybe it just spins faster than ours, but either way, they have a higher gravity then our, meaning their bone density, muscle strength and muscle density is naturally a lot higher than ours. That, and the fact that none of them can rely on chakra for anything, meaning everything must come from their own strength since they cannot augment and enhance their muscles joints and bones with chakra." She said easily as she finished the code sequence and opened the door, Samira still struggling.

"Fuck! I didn't ask for a book Hana!" he grunted as he and his comrade began to drag her into the cell, two cots available inside.

"Well, you asked," she quipped back dryly as they attempted to drag her inside. Samira was having none of it and promptly raised both legs to catch either side of the doorway since her captors were already holding her weight up off the ground.

"Dammit! Would you stop struggling and being a pain in my ass!" yelled the talkative one as his partner grimace at the strain. Samira's response was to slam her forehead into his, breaking his mask and sending the three of them tumbling to the ground. The young woman in a lab coat rolled her eyes at the ensuing scuffle before leaning into the room to look at the elderly woman who had sat up from her bed and watching the scuffle with confused eyes.

**"How are you doing today Mrs. Welsh?"** asked the medic conversationally in English ignoring the fighting people on the floor as the elderly woman grinned back at the familiar face.

"**I am doing well Ms. Hana. Is that a new arrival?"** she asked the three people continued to scuffle. Hana nodded with a rueful grin.

**"Yes, something like that." **The scuffle finally ended with Samira getting thrown into the room before the door was slammed shut and locked with hurried motions and wild curses from her guards.

**"LET ME OUT OF HERE! OPEN THIS DOOR!"** roared Samira as she proceeded to kick the shit out of the door that barred her way.

**"Samira?**" came a voice from behind the young woman, causing her to freeze before whirling around in alarm. The old woman that sat before her had purple hair and hazel eyes, and was abnormally thin, almost brittle looking. Samira continued to frown at the woman in distrust, mind struggling to reason out as to why this woman would know her name. After a moment the woman smiled though she could tell that it was partly pained with sadness.

"**I know I have changed a lot, dear, but i thought that you would recognize me at least a little.** Samira's stomach dropped at the familiar voice as she continued to stare at the woman in silence. It took another minute before her brain finally realized where this woman's familiarity spung from and Samira's eyes widened as she sank to the floor with shock.

"**There's no way,"** she whispered, her tone hushed with realization, shaking hands coming to cover her mouth in shock. The older woman's grin was pained once more.

"**It's me**," she whispered as Samira swallowed due to the suddenly dry mouth.

"**I don't believe you**," whispered the young woman as the older one flinched, purple hair falling to shadow hazel eyes.

"**When you were ten I sent you to the principal's office for leaving a prank in Mr. Jones class**," she said as Samira's eyes began to water. Within a moment she was across the room clinging to the older woman with desperation.

"**Mrs. Welsh**." she sobbed as the older woman hugged her back with equal ferocity, tears falling from her hazel eyes.

"**Where have you been?! You've been missing for over a year**," Samira finally demanded as she pulled back to hold the other woman at shoulder's length as she let her eyes rover over the older woman, taking her greatly changed appearance.

"**I think it's safe to assume that time passes differently between our world and this one. Over on this side of the lake, it has only been about six months,**" she said as Samira's eyes widened with shock.

"**What do you mean when you say 'this world?**'" she murmured in shock as the older woman grimaced briefly in pain. At Samira's worried look the older woman shot her a strained smile.

**"I have much to tell you and little time. To be honest, I'm probably going to be dying soon despite our Host's efforts to slow my death. I need to tell you about the nature of these people and this facility and what to expect, and in the end, it's going to be up to you for how you will handle this world**," she said as Samira stared at her in horror. Understanding that now was not the time to interrupt, Samira gestured for her old school teacher to speak and all too soon Mrs. Welsh was explaining to her what little she knew of the bizarre new world that had traveled to.

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"Kabuto," called Hana.

"Yes, ma'am?" called the young grey-haired medic as he straightened his glasses.

"You have some reports to finish up. Get back over here," called the young woman as Kabuto hurried to obey.

"Yes, sir. Right away," said Kabuto as the spy hurried across the water with a slight smirk. Lord Orochimaru might want to know about this.

…

**AN: Please leave a review and comment for the author and editors.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Unlikely Survival**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Naruto characters, only my own OCs. Thank you.**

**Warnings: Language, Adult situation, very mild gore**

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**Ch. 2 A Dangerous New World**

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Samira lay curled up on her cot on the cell, her mind whirling with shock as Mrs. Welsh wheezed a death rattle from the other cot in the room. The young woman rolled over away from the wall by her bed to look at the sleeping old woman again, eyes taking in Mrs. Welsh's highly altered appearance. She hadn't even recognized the old woman, to begin with. She sighed as she returned to staring at the wall next to her cot, apprehension leaving her too tense to sleep. Mrs. Welsh's ragged breaths seemed to ring in her ears, a death dirge that would soon become her own. Tears leaked past closed eyes, but no matter how she wished she could shy away from the cold truth of their quickly impending mortality, she knew it to be true.

The tale the older woman had had to tell had been even more fantastical, but if what the other woman was saying was true, then it would soon be Samira's turn to transform in appearance as well.

According to the older woman, it seemed that their people were not compatible with this world. Despite their captors efforts, they would be dying soon anyways. After all, six months to at best two years wasn't that long to live, even with treatment. Samira curled tighter into herself, feeling more alone then she ever had before, despite her detached and lonesome past. Before, she had at least had Antonia, her step sister since the other girl's family had adopted her after her own parents deaths. She had had her birthplace and home, the island in the middle of the lake. As a child she had had her imaginary friend, Shadow, the being that had haunted the water's edge. She shuddered remembering the figure that had appeared in the middle of the bridge. She was pretty sure it had been Shadow, a terrifying thought. It would mean that he hadn't been as imaginary as she had originally thought.

As she lay in her cot Samira mulled over the identity of her captors and what she knew of them. They spoke Japanese. Samira held herself tighter. _They spoke Japanese_. She remembered her and Tony running along the edge of the shore line to the lake, giggling as little girls followed Shadow, Antonia unable to see him, but willing to play along with Samira's 'game.' They had skidded to a stop as they found the treasure that he had offered, and the two girls found several dirty scrolls, filled with scribbles of writing. Curious and elated, they had run off screaming with glee at their treasure, intent on figuring out what it was. It had turned out to be a scroll written in Japanese. In fact, the scroll had been the reason why Tony and her had learned Japanese together. It was their secret language. Now she knew why the scroll was in Japanese, a lot of things starting to make sense that she had dismissed as normal as a child.

That wasn't their first or last Shadow led treasure hunt. Shadow had led them to find all sorts of interesting items on the island. There had been knives, rusted and old. A few swords. Clothing, fairly intact but the owners conspicuously missing. More scrolls. Bags. Gold. Gems. Jewelry. Trinkets. Toys. Masks. They had ended up learning a lot about a different alien culture that was across the world in Japan, through each item found and unrestricted access to the internet. They had begun to change, to learn, to grow, to speak. Samira had to fight back a sob. Had Shadow taken Tony too? Mrs. Welsh had told her that she hadn't seen her.

In a lot of ways, her past felt like it had been a lie. Shadow had been showing them those things on purpose before bringing them here.

It was terrifying.

Why?

Samira tensed in fear as she sensed a familiar presence behind where she lay.

She remained frozen as the presence drew closer, before there was a near silent shuffle as the being sat, their back leaning into the cot. Terror sprang through her as she realized that Mrs. Welsh's ragged breathed had stilled. The old woman had just died as Shadow had appeared. Was he the one that had taken her life? Would he take hers next? She stopped breathing as terror filled her veins with ice, her heart threatening to burst from her chest in fear.

Then once more it felt like her whole world was tilting on its axis. A large familiar hand gently pat Samira's head like when she was a child, Shadow comforting her sadness with his quiet presence and gentle touch. It may have been years but he had always been her comfort, and now was no exception. With the gesture and gentleness, she felt all her fear and distrust dissolve at the familiar touch, released in the form of tears as she cried quietly, grieving for Mrs. Welsh's death, her impending one, her missing sister and her lost world. But, at the very least she would never truly be alone.

It was a good while before Samira's tears of fear died down, as well as her apprehension. Shadow had always followed her as a child, looked after her, led her away from danger. If it was true that coming to this world would be the death of her, then she had to believe that Shadow knew something that she didn't. She finally rolled over so she could look at him. He began to stand but Samira grabbed his shadowy hand as she had as a child, stilling his retreat. Slowly he sat once more and continued patting her hair. All too soon Samira's eyes slid shut and she drifted off to sleep, a large dark being with the appearance of coiling black smoke keeping watch of her as she slept.

...

Ibiki sighed as he pushed the last of the paperwork away from him, leaning back in his chair to rub aching eyes. It had been a long night of running around, trying to figure out what the hell had happened. Why had Orochimaru come? What had triggered this attack on the base? Why had he taken who he had taken? What was he after? He looked over the list of items that had been with the young woman when she had come through the lake, before tossing the paperwork towards the scroll that all the items had been sealed into to make it easier for transport.

He wasn't going to have anything helpful to tell the Hokage when he got back, despite the information that he had gone over. The only thing of relevance, was that there must be a spy at the base. Despite Orochimaru's great power as one of the legendary Sannin warriors, there was still the matter of finding the base when it had been hidden so maddeningly well. In truth there was a powerful seal, made by the Uzumaki Clan themselves that lived up to their reputation as powerful sealers. Unless you were given the counter seal you would be diverted and tricked away from the location. Not only that, but there was another equally powerful Barrier seal that would keep all intruders well at bay. And yet he had been able to pass both of these seals. Not only that, but he had made the effort to. But why now? What had triggered this attack? Ibiki huffed in anger as he sat back hard in his seat, feeling distinctly frustrated at the lack of answers the report yielded him.

The door to the office suddenly slammed open as a young woman in a lab coat rushed in looking frazzled.

"Anbu have reported that some of Orochimaru's men are heading towards the base. I think they somehow discovered that there is a new arrival sir," she gasped, clearly having run. Ibiki shot to his feet with a sinking gut and raced after the young woman, the two of them racing towards where the new arrival was being kept.

"How long do we have?" he demanded as she quickly keyed in the code on the door.

"They should be here in about twenty minutes. I don't know how long the rest of the guard will be able to stall them for if Orochimaru is with them," she said, voice and hands shaking badly as she flung the door open. Ibiki rushed in to find an old woman an ashy gray color and unbreathing as the other occupant of the room sat up in her own bunk, her dark intelligent eyes taking him in. He paused taking in the older woman with a curse, knowing that she was dead. With that, his eyes darted over to the young woman to quickly asses her mental health. Their kind was not well known for handling death well. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying but she seemed calm despite the situation. Good, that probably meant that the sedative the medic had given her had started to work. He couldn't afford for her to fight him right now with how hard pressed for time they were. He moved forward quickly, watching her carefully as he swiftly picked her up in his arms. Despite his highly scarred appearance she didn't seem alarmed merely curious, eyes darting to something unseen to her left as Ibiki turned tail and rushed from the room.

To be fair, he had expected more resistance from the young woman, sedated or not, but she merely squirmed for a moment before relaxing to get comfortable in his tight grip her face pressing into the tender skin of his neck sending a shudder through him. Perhaps she was sedated stronger than he had thought. Sprinting from the base with the young woman in his arms, five Anbu quickly took up formation around him, calling orders as the group scrambled to get away from the base in time from the attack. There was an explosion from outside the barrier as the fighting between the two forces started. She merely tightened her grip on him she clung to him.

Until he used inhuman speed and strength to leap into the trees. He cut off her strangled scream of surprise with a crushing grip on her mouth as he ran through the treetops like a wraith, death nipping at their heels. For her sake, they would make it back to the village.

...

The guards standing at the secret side entrance into the Village of the Hidden Leaf shifted nervously in their spots. It was almost as if they could feel the new presence that had entered the world and was now fast approaching them. It set their nerves on edge, which heightened when a flash of lightning lighted up the sky followed by the low rumble of thunder. Anyone with a good nose could smell the moisture about to fall down onto the people below, it was only a matter of time.

A couple of miles due south west of the Konoha gates a young woman named Samira, was flinching and squirming in the hold of a large man with scars on his face wearing a black trench coat, the uniform underneath a grey color with a plain black belt at the waist. Open toed black sandals were on his feet, a large black bandanna covered his head, and on the front of that bandanna was a silver metal plate with a weird leaf design etched into it. At the moment he held her bridal style and was jumping from one large tree branch to another at an inhuman speed, her wild brown curls whipping into her face and around her shoulders. She had to squint her chocolate brown eyes against the wind and moisture, which was slowly gathering in the air around them, to even try and make out where they were going.

"**Would you stop that**?" he snapped. A bolt of lightning briefly lit up the sky followed by the booming sound of thunder, which made her jolt and cling to his already sore neck tighter.

The young woman shot him a slight glare before wincing as another lightning bolt flashed.

The scarred man just snorted, his grip on her tightening slightly, and then without any warning to her he left the safety of the branches in a stomach dropping drop, making Samira give a small shriek, before safely landing on the ground below. Their silent guards swiftly landed around them setting up a parameter as they began to fan out. Setting her quickly on her feet the young woman had to throw out her hand at the nearest tree to steady herself as her legs shook like jelly. The young woman knew it would only be a matter of time before the leaves couldn't hold up against the steady rain and douse them in water. She did not cherish the thought of being wet on top of cold at all.

Lost in her thoughts the young woman gave a small jump in surprise when something heavy and warm landed on her shoulders and hug over her back. Glancing over her shoulder she saw a large gloved hand moving away from her and followed it up to the scarred man that she had been carried by since the lake. Realizing that he was no longer wearing his black trench coat, she peered down at her shoulder to see that he had draped it over her own shoulders. Giving a small smile she shrugged into the much to long sleeves and muttered a quiet, "**Thanks**."

Instead of the custom 'you're welcome' he had moved in front of her again and grumbled out a quick command for her to get on as he kneeled down with his back facing her. The young woman wasted no time as she quickly climbed back onto his back, before he took off once more through the dark woods, their silent guard following them into the treetops with ease.

It was pouring rain by the time she was able to spot some dim lights in the distance. It must have been significant to the scarred man, for he picked up his pace, making her cling tighter to stay on. Her brown eyes widened slowly as they drew closer and suddenly huge gates appeared out of nowhere them, when a bright flash of lightening lit the area. Sucking in a gasp at the impressive structure she heard her neck crack as she tried to crane her neck back enough, so she might be able to get a glimpse of the top of the large shadowy structure drawing closer.

Samira's inspection was short though when the man beneath her growled out, "**Cut that out. You're getting me wet.**" Scowling slightly at the back of his bandana covered head, as she grudgingly complied, making sure the hood to his trench coat covered his head as well.

Seeing that he was once again being shielded by the rain, the young woman returned her eyes to the now closer to the huge gate. Now that they were almost there she could see they were dimly lit by some type of lighting at the bottom and very top, where she could just barely make out shadow figures moving around. Just when she thought they were about to crash into the huge doors a small side door slide open on the left side. Warm yellow light spilled out of the open door and a figure soon was outlined in the frame of the door, before he stepped out into the rain and headed towards them.

There was no hesitation in the scarred man as he headed for the man. This was clearly a place he was familiar with. As soon as they were within speaking distance the two men began talking in rapid fire Japanese. It was at this moment that Samira felt her awe at the situation increasing. How bizarre was it that she was in an entirely different world, and yet she was fortunate enough to know the language? Things like this was not normal. She had been expecting at least a language barrier.

The man was clearly giving the man carrying her a report, having been informed of their intended arrival from a carrier hawk who had managed to make it here before the group, and it seemed that their leader the Hokage was sending a group of warriors to the Forbidden Lake and another retrieval team for the old woman, Mrs. Welsh, though they suspected that the attackers would be looking for the young woman since she had not received treatments to slow her impending death just yet. For some reason, their attackers and this Orochimaru fellow was wanting people that were 'fresh.' She had to hold back a shudder when they mentioned his pension for human experimentation. At moments like these, she was glad that they had no idea she could understand them or they would not have spoken as candidly.

The two men conversed for a few minutes more. Finally, the man that had greeted them gestured for the scarred man to go through the door and Samira gave a sigh of relief as the passed the frame and entered the warm golden light.

Momentarily blinded after being out in the dark for so long, Samira had to squint her eyes as they tried to adjust to the light. However before they even got close they went through another door and were once again surrounded by darkness, with an occasional light along the road they were traveling on. In fact, she felt some nostalgia creep up on her when she recognized the lights to be a type of street light and with the buildings so close together it defiantly felt like the city she came from in her world. If only it had been day and she was able to get a closer look at the buildings they were passing she would not have been having these thoughts, as it was very much different from her world. For now, with the darkness was hiding the differences and creating the illusion of familiarity. It was very disorientating to her to feel so at home with a place she knew to be completely foreign.

_I really need to learn his name,_ she thought as her transportation continued to run at top speed through what she learned to be a maze of a city as they stopped for a second in the street, before taking a right onto a smaller street. The rain if possible was coming down harder, drenching both of them as he ran. The leather trench coat could not protect the both of them, especially since the wind had decided to pick up as well. A flash of lightning lit up the thick, dark, mountainous clouds over the village and thunder boomed as soon as the light disappeared. If Samira had to hazard a guess the main part of the storm was now over the top of them.

She had tried to keep track of all the twist and turns they were taking through this village in case she needed to escape, but after about the sixth turn she gave up and laid her head wearily against his back. The young woman could feel her body start to shut down from exhaustion. She was trying to stay awake, but after everything that had happened in the past eight hours, fatigue was defiantly starting to take its toll. It didn't help that he was warm and she found herself hunching into him as the tiredness of her body and warmth from him took away the tension from her muscles.

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It was quiet in the dark hospital room that she was in as she pretended to sleep, her ride having long since left. She lay in the dark deep in thought, trying to formulate a plan and listen for intruders. She had just eaten dinner and the rich food had been good but still odd tasting considering it was a completely different pallet compared to what she was used to. It had been an hour since then and the sounds in the hospital had completely stilled. Samira figured most of its occupants were asleep, especially since it was in the dead of the night. They had arrived pretty late as it was. She could still hear the sound of the rain gently pattering against the window of her room, which elicited a frustrated sigh from her. She was so tired, her body crying out, screaming for her to get rest. But she knew that she had to leave before it was too late.

Samira jolted awake at the sound of curtains being pulled back, eyes blinking and squinting at the sudden light, feeling confused. A nurse gave her a smile and a greeting before leaving the room, shutting the door after her. Her eyes widened as gradual understanding hit her and she groaned in frustration as she sat up.

She had actually fallen asleep last night! _Idiot_, she cursed herself angrily in her head, upset that she hadn't taken the opportunity to run. Still fuming she flopped back on her bed, glaring angrily at the ceiling. _How could I? Ugh, damn it. But, you need to regain your strength, maybe even gather a couple of supplies before you leave_, she pepped talked to herself. Grudgingly she began to rub the sleep from her eyes, thinking of what she needed to get. Unknown to her she wasn't the only one starting out with a frustrating day.

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The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was having the same thoughts as Samira as he stared down his former teammate and friend, Danzo, who he had made into one of his advisors after being named Hokage, the leader of the Village. The discussion they were having was an old one and dealt with the Forbidden Lake and the people that came from it. In fact, this particular discussion was on the young lady that they had retrieved last night. She should now be in the hospital getting treatment.

_It always comes down to this,_ he thought with resigned resentment towards his former teammates and friend. Danzo and the other two elders always tried to push him into a corner on this subject and he always had to put his foot down and forbid them from taking any action. He had made a promise his predecessor, the second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, that things would stay as they were. It had only been in times of great desperation did he allow for crossbreeding between the people of the lake and his people.

"For the future of Konoha, we need more powerful Shinobi, Hiruzen. You know this. There is barely any promising students in the academy as is and our Tailed beast container is a loud mouthed little brat with no skill. We need a stronger next generation, be it one or two more children. I don't see why you are so against this," complained Homura.

Hiruzen sighed tiredly, not liking where the conversation had been going. "That is true, but ordering a shinobi to seduce and impregnate the young woman is going too far, Homura. There is no reason for this. There is no deficit in population like the previous destruction of our home nor our wanning numbers like the third Shinobi war."

"You are assuming that our peace will hold out," Koharu scolded her face twisting in contempt.

"The answer is still no Koharu. Besides, after she dies, the father will be left with a child on his hands that he has no love for. There's no telling what the final product would yield, and it would be cruel to just take a child from his only family."

"Then put the child in my care. I'm positive that I could craft it into a powerful weapon for Konoh-"

"Enough!"

Sarutobi's fist struck the table before him making silence descend upon the room, its occupants wisely choosing to stay quiet in the face of the older man's anger. They knew how much he hated turning people into tools. They were his people, their lives in his hands. He had seen many of them grow up from small children into the adults that led his forces today. He had seen many of their generation die well before their time. He had always been responsible for that, for his people in his village. He had been forced to do so in the past to keep bloodlines alive for those that were will.

Both the women and the man from the lake had had mixed reactions to his proposals. Some had wanted to have children before their death, some had wanted to extend their lives by having children and some just hadn't wanted to. That had been fine, but the strength of the orphans was undeniable. Their mothers and fathers may have come from a different world, but they were still his people to guide, guard and cherish. He had had to give some to Danzo since their had been a surplus and not enough room in the orphanage. That had disappeared into the darkest parts of the village before either reappearing dead or as emotionless weapons. It had always been a hard choice to make. His heart still ached for what he had had to do in the past.

He would not make such choices again so lightly. Times no longer called for it.

This subject wasn't up for debate. It never had been. The fact that they dared bring up an old wound only served to raise his ire towards their impudence. His decision was already made, and he wasn't going to waste any more time for them to try to talk him into something that he would never allow again so easily.

"This is not up for conversation, nor do your thought on the subject have any importance. This will not happen. If I catch any of you going behind my back on this matter…" he let the threat hang in the air before getting up with firm finality.

Nobody spoke in protest as he left the room, understanding that they were already on thin ice. Rubbing his forehead, Hiruzen let out a sigh of frustration. He knew this would not be the end of it. He would have to keep a close eye on those three and this particular situation for a while, despite his decree and threat. _Yes, a long day indeed,_ he thought finally making it down the tower and onto the busy streets of Konoha.

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Two days had passed for Samira without too much excitement.

Her first day in the hospital had the doctor coming to see her for most of the day. He had done some tests on her and taken a blood and urine sample before he left. She did everything he asked of her with no arguing. She didn't want them to suspect her plans to make a break for it. That night after she was sure nobody was up and moving around she snuck around finding clothes and even managed to locate the kitchen. After returning to her room, she had taken it along with her new shirt, pants, wrapped everything up into a nice roll, before putting it into a large clear plastic bag she had also procured from the kitchen, and hid it in her personal bathroom's toilet tank. Samira hoped nobody would think to look in there and find them, she then slipped back into bed to get a few hours of sleep.

The second day she found out that she really wouldn't need to smuggle a knife from the kitchen when she finally decided to escape. After all, if she took it early, it would raise alarm. In fact, getting a knife was so easy she was still in shock about it all. Mid-afternoon Samira heard the agonized moans of a man echo down her hallway along with a lot of footsteps and shouting from medics and nurses. Wondering what all the commotion was she stuck her head out the door to be met with a grizzly sight. A gurney was passing her room with several medics milling around it trying to staunch the bleeding from several lacerations that covered his body. In fact, there were still a few short daggers, throwing stars, and some type of long thin metal needles sticking out of his arms and legs.

Samira just stood there with her mouth opened in shock as they continued by her room, the man withering and moaning the whole way. The nurses and medics were speaking urgently to one another, while some struggled to hold the squirming man down. They were only a few steps past her door when the man successfully got one arm free and as he thrashed it around two throwing stars that were in that shoulder and hadn't found good enough purchase in his skin and muscle fell down to the ground with a clang. A nurse tried to grab his arm and in the process hit one of the short daggers that was lodged in his upper thigh. He gave a howl of pain and before anybody could stop him, he reached down and yanked it out of his skin. Before he could throw it the same nurse finally got a hold of his wrist, applying enough pressure for his fingers to go limp and drop the weapon with a clatter. Nobody seemed to pay attention to the lost weapons as they finally got his arm pinned down again and resumed their mad dash for what Samira could only assume was a surgery room.

Cautiously she scanned her surroundings to make sure nobody was coming and bent down to pick up the three bloody weapons off the floor. Carefully slipping back into her room she closed the door and made a beeline for the toilet. Stashing them away with her clothes and knife before replacing the lid quickly and getting into her bed as if she hadn't moved. She made it just in time too for the doctor was in her room five minutes later wanting to do some more tests.

It was that night she decided to make her escape.

She hadn't touched her dinner that night, fearing that there was sleeping power or drugs in the food or drink. She had noticed how drowsy she got after she ate at night, something that wasn't considered normal for her since at best she was mildly an insomniac. She flushed most of it down the toilet, only leaving a few grains of rice, and a couple of fried onions on her plate to make it more realistic that she had eaten. The juice she had done the same thing with. Pretending to fall asleep when she heard footsteps coming toward her door, she listened closely as her door was opened and the sound of silverware clinking against the plate as the person picked it up, soon the sound of the door closing and the footsteps fading away told her the person had left and wasn't planning on coming back soon.

She immediately got up and went to the bathroom, closing and locking the door. Taking out her stash, Samira started to clean the blood off the stars and dagger, only the more she looked at the small dagger she began to realize it was actually called a Kunai and the other two were throwing stars or Shuriken, something her lost friend, had told her about. Antonia, who had been obsessed with ninja had explained what they looked like to her enough times for her to recognize them. _Ninja tools,_ she thought with a slight frown. Seeing they were cleaned she slid a finger across the edge of one of the throwing stars only to hiss and bring her finger back. A nice clean line of blood began to weep from the cut on her finger.

She continued to frown down at the tools as her thoughts churned slowly. Ninja weapons. It had given her pause to see them, making her think hard over what she knew of the elusive Japanese warriors of old. They had been rumored to use magic, to know the future, to be able to take on ten men and win, to use kunai and throwing stars, to be able to walk on water, to become invisible or vanish from thin air, the list just went on and on regarding rumors of their powers. Samira frowned down at the weapon as she quickly stashed them back away in one of her pockets.

_Did this mean that perhaps, the scarred man was a ninja? It might explain his ability to travel so fast, and that those other people in masks could walk on water. Then there were the elemental abilities the man had displayed. Could anyone here do that? Those other people hadn't even reacted to his sudden display with the water, meaning that it probably was normal here. All the more reason to be cautious then._ Samira thought grimly to herself. She also knew that the ninja were known for their lack of honor and their treachery_. All the more reason not to trust these people_, she figured. She sighed, her resolve hardening. Human experimentation and a closing in death. If she was going to die, she could die on her own terms, not waste and wither away like Mrs. Welsh. According to the woman, if she received no treatments, her death would come by the end of the month with a sudden swiftness. If she wanted a quick death, it looked like she really had no choice now but to leave.

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It was midnight when Samira stuck her brunet head out of her room to check if the coast was clear. Not seeing any movement in the hallway and not hearing anybody or thing coming her way she slipped silently out of her room. She had changed into her new shirt and pants. Samira spotted the stairs and headed straight for them, all the while staying alert for anything out of place. She had almost made it to the stairs when she heard a sound to her left.

Freezing against the wall, right next to the opening to the stairs, she turned her head toward the area. A closed-door met her brown eyes and she gave a silent sigh of relief as it was only a patient groaning in their sleep. Turning back to the stairs and taking a step toward them she heard a groan again, but this time it sounded pained. Another louder groan and she grimaced in annoyance. This asshole was going to ruin her escape with his noise by rousing other patients and nurses.

Quickly coming to a decision, she silently entering the patient's room, making sure to shut the door softly behind her before going over to the bed. She wasn't sure what could be done but if there was a serious problem she should go back and change before a nurse was called.

Thankfully somebody had left the blinds open letting the light from the full moon shining directly into the room, giving her enough light to see by. The patient on the bed was outlined clearly and she was struck by his odd silver hair. It was wild, with disorderly spikes going in all different directions. After seeing the hair she thought she was dealing with an older person, but as her eyes shifted to his face she was greeted with a mid-twenties face, despite the jagged horizontal scar crossing over his left eye and his white bed sheet covering the bottom half of his face.

The man kept fidgeting, letting out moans every couple of seconds. _I'm not in the ICU unit am I?_ she thought, scanning the room for anything that would let her know where she was.

Samira's inspection was cut off as the man rolled over onto his side, facing her. She felt her eyes widen in surprise, as the sheet was pulled away to reveal his face. The skin underneath was a pale with the beginnings of silver stubble on an angular jaw and pointed chin. He was definitely pleasing to the eyes. It wasn't until he called out in a rough voice that she stopped her staring.

"R-Rin," he started to toss and turn, reaching out a hand in front of him as if he was trying to grab onto somebody or telling them not to leave.

Instinctively Samira had reached out and took hold of his hand.

His eyes snapped open.

Samira froze when she found herself staring into mismatched eyes. One was pitch black, while the other was a blood red with strange black markings in it. Despite his unnerving gaze, she quickly noticed that both eyes were bleary and unfocused probably from medication and pain. Not a moment later they fluttered shut once more, a small groan of pain passed his lips. The young woman stayed still trying to figure out what to do when his eyes flickered open for a few seconds and then closing again, his grip tightening to the point of pain.

Samira nearly jumped out of her skin when a shadowy hand suddenly reached over her shoulder to gently place it's palm over the pained man's eyes. The reaction was instantaneous and his grip immediately slumped as his fingers went limp. Heart in her throat she watched the shadowy arm retract before breathing a sigh in relief as the man's slow breathing filled her ears. Thank god, she had thought for one terrible moment that Shadow had killed him. Looking to her nearly invisible protector the much taller being gestured for her to follow. Nearing the doorway, symbols on the walls began to glow and Samira's stomach dropped in fear as a symbol on her wrist began to glow when she drew closer. The Shadow waved his hand and the light was immediately snuffed out, the tingle in her arm disappearing as they moved past the doorway without hindrance.

Shadow motioned once more and Samira followed without question this time as the two of them moved. She was going to be alright. She wasn't as alone as she had thought.

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She spent a week in the village scrounging around for food in trash bins and in the forest. She kept the forest mostly though, not wanting to be around others too often. Shadow was invaluable in keeping the locals from noticing her or the people in uniform from bothering her. She had a feeling that those in uniform were ninja of this village, but she wasn't too sure considering the fact that she didn't speak with anyone.

As she reached for a mushroom, Shadow's hand stopped her and she paused understanding that it was poisonous before gesturing to another. Meeting no resistance, she plucked it and added it to a cloth bag she had found a couple days ago. Finished gathering her mushroom she froze as she stood, seeing a small pair of bright blue eyes peering back at her from around a tree several yards away. She stared back uncertainly before turning to look at Shadow questioningly. The Shadow merely looked at the boy before gesturing for her to go to him as he continued gathering mushrooms with shadowy fingers.

Hesitantly Samira offered the boy a smile as the boy eyed her and the huge shadow behind her hesitantly. After a moment the boy dashed away, merely a small shadow in the woods himself as her grin fell. Oh well, the kid wasn't feeling friendly. She really couldn't blame him, she mused as she continued her work before moving on to one of her snares. She took a look at her dirty appearance before grimacing. She needed a bath. Later Shadow showed her a natural hot spring when she mentioned it to him.

In a couple days she would see the boy watching her again, this time from her place beside a fire, fish frying on a stick beside the flames for her dinner. Looking between the boy and her food, she selected a fish that was finished before offering it to him. He crept forward as careful as you please, letting her finally get a good look at him. He had a shock of blonde hair that had her curious about what was common in coloration in this world. He couldn't have been more than seven years old and he moved with a wariness that wasn't seen in children from her world. She had to wonder if it was just him or a common occurrence here. The clothing was old, frayed, and he seemed to be ill-kempt all around, belaying that he had no caretakers. His skinny frame suggested limited food. Not a good thing for a growing child.

He snatched the stick from her fingers while she was distracted by her observations of him, blue eyes wary. She merely grinned to herself and went back to eating one of her fish. The boy seemed to devour it with gusto, struggling to eat despite the fact that the fish was burning his tongue.

"Here, drink first. It will help with the hunger while the fish cools." Samira said in Japanese as the child froze, eyeing the water warily. The young woman's eyes widened in surprise after a moment when she realized that the boy knew to be wary of being given open containers. How the hell would he know something like that? Feeling her gut roil with unease she swiftly took a deep drink before offering him the rest of the drink. He took the cup uncertainly, a bit of his tension draining away to leave genuine curiosity in his blue gaze. Giving the drink a wary sniff he tried a little before drinking more deeply, still being sure to keep an eye on her the entire time. Her eyes remained somber as she gazed at the child before she looked down, clearly upset by what she had learned about her new little companion.

He surprised her by staying after he was finished eating his eyes fighting to stay open after his full meal in however long it had been. It was a chilly night and he was probably as loathed to depart from the fire as she was at that moment but the boy was pretty dirty, dirt smudged on his cheeks and on his face.

Getting up Samira began to get her things ready for her nightly bath, glad that the natural hot springs were warm. Blue eyes were wary once more and she shot him a sad smile as she left the camp. He was gone by the time she returned.

The rest of the week progressed in this fashion, her young companion slowly growing less wary as time passed and soon he began to bring her things, like a ragged blanket or a chipped plate. She had grinned at his first offering before motioning for him to join her as she walked, the two of them moving easily through the trees. He began to help her tend to the traps or go fishing in the evening when the fish were most active. He watched with rapt attention as she taught him how to string and tie a hook. His wide missing toothed grin when he succeeded to do the same sent a jolt or warmth through her heart and she started to reach to give his hair a ruffle only to pause when his grin fell. Reaching over with slow determination she let her hand rest gently on his hair before she gave a little ruffle, a small smile on her lips as she slowly reached back leaving the boy to watch her warily, though in truth she was pleased. Yes, he was wary but he had trusted her enough to let her touch him if only to see what she would do.

The tension left his shoulders and she grinned wider before moving on to their next trap, leaving her smaller companion to follow.

...

Samira was pretty sure that the child could see Shadow. She had noticed his small blue eyes tracking the large shadowy being more than a few times, and how his eyes had darted around the few times they went into the large village together. Whatever the case, the child seemed to understand that when he was with Shadow, they wouldn't be bothered by the villagers. A loud bang sounded from the side and the child jumped his hand snapping out to grab hers unthinkingly as he peered warily in the direction the sound had come from. He was jumpy and very aware of his surrounding, Samira mused as the continued to walk, the boy still distracted. After a moment the child stiffened before looking up, eyes wide as he realized that he was holding her hand with no response from her. She smiled at his mildly alarmed expression but made no move to close her fingers around his hand. She figured that he would panic if she tried to grab his hand back and figured that the best option would be just to allow him to hold her hand for the time being. He seemed to debate for a minute before looking ahead resolutely though she could see the mild tension in his shoulders. She grinned, pleased that his grubby little fingers were still wrapped around her own. All things in time. Her smile began to fade. She didn't really have time. But he clearly needed someone to look after him, little starved thing that he was.

Samira paused in their walk to solemnly regard Shadow who had paused as well, his shadowy black head turning to face her.

"Shadow, after I am dead and gone, I want you to look after this child and protect him." She said quietly. The child's fingers spasmed around her own in shock at her words. She looked down to find small blue eyes regarding her in open terror, his grip on her fingers tight.

"You're dying?!" he demanded. This was probably the seventh time she had heard him speak. She smiled sadly as she placed a hand on his hair and gave it a comforting ruffle.

"We all are kiddo, some just faster than others." His grip on her fingers tightened as he looked down, clearly upset. Taking pity on the child she leaned over and scooped him up, setting his weight on her hip as he scrambled in panic for a moment before settling, clearly uncomfortable but making an effort. She grinned.

"Put your arms around my neck so you can hold on better," She said, knowing that it would give him a better sense of control. She grinned as the tension began to leak out of the small child as they walked down the way, to the other side of the village. Fish was getting a bit scarce where she had been fishing recently. Time to relocate.

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**AN: Please review. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Unlikely Survival**

**AN: **

10/08/2018

God help me I didn't realize how damn peppy I sounded back then. Hopefully this makes things better.

**Disclaimer:**

**Fliscent Firetail does not own Naruto, the manga or anime. All rights belong to Kishimoto. I only own the plot/plot twists, and original characters.**

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**Ch. 3**

**Blood Bonds**

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The boy was taking to hunting and fishing like a duck to water. He was taking to the food even better. It didn't take a lot for Samira to manage to steal him some better clothing, though she made sure it was as nondescript as possible and already close to what the boy wore before. It wouldn't do for someone to link him to the thievery and punish him for her actions. He was starting to grow though, she could tell in his sudden bouts of frustrated temper when he would get frustrated for seemingly no reason and start to cry though he did so with the greatest reluctance. Growing pains, and the frustration that was spurred by the chemical cocktail that now coursed through him as his body raced to catch up to something it should have been doing for a while now. It hurt, ached as muscle and bone shifted and stretched and he was frustrated with everything from the random aches and pains to his sudden clumsiness as his little body began to change and grow.

It was a bit startling how quickly he took to the nourishment, but maybe that was another difference between Samira's world and this one. She looked down as she trailed a finger over the boy's soft cheek as he slept, nestled in the crook of her arm as she watched the fire. She studied the three symmetrical lines that marred his face on each side. If anything they reminded her of whiskers. She grinned as he nuzzled into her side at the gentle touch. She liked them. They suited her little boy perfectly, reminding her of when she had raised a young fox as a teenager.

Skittish but curious at first before becoming highly curious and highly affectionate. Naruto was highly affectionate and he seemed to crave affection in turn, leaving her to believe that he had never been given so much care and attention before. He was so young too, it made her heart break. Samira's smile faded as she stared into the fire, feeling its light and warmth. She didn't want to die. Before it had been easier when it was only her life on the line but now she was worried about the child's future. Samira looked over to the shadowy figure that sat beside the fire. Even its light couldn't penetrate its darkness and his shape remained humanoid but undefined.

"Shadow?" she called quietly. Where his head should have been turned letting her know she had his attentions tendrils of darkness curling around his head like smoky for hair as always. She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat as she looked down at the child nestled in her arms. Sometimes she wondered if this was what having your own kid felt like. She would never know.

"I don't want to die," she whispered. The smoky mass before her continued to watch her quietly. In all the years she had known him, she had never heard him speak. He reached over with an impossibly long limb and pat her head gently as he always had, sending a wash of comfort through her. She tightened her grip on the child slightly as she took a deep breath reveling in the feeling as a wave of calm swept through her. Soon she was deep asleep. Seeing her unconscious, the shadowy creature rose before disappearing into the darkness around them. He had another person to go check on, though this young woman would always be his main priority.

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The child was a very curious one, in case she hadn't reiterated it enough. Content now that she wasn't going to respond to every little thing he did in a negative fashion, he set about asking her a million questions. What was her family like, where was she from, why did she look different, who was Shadow, why was the sky blue, what were they having for dinner tonight? It seemed the kid had never had anyone to talk with before and once he got going, boy was he a chatterbox. He didn't seem to understand moderation, a symptom of being alone. He hadn't learned how to interact socially yet.

Samira didn't mind for the most part. If she was getting fed up with his chatter she would tickle him mercilessly or send him on an errand. He seemed to grasp this pretty quickly as well as the look he would get before she would do these things and would respond accordingly. Sometimes he would quiet down and want to be held, meaning he had just been wanting attention in the first place. Other times he would get a mischievous glint and his eyes and continue. Those were the times he got tickled the most and he seemed to take it all in stride with wide laughter, a far cry from the child she had first met.

While he asked every question he could dream of and got answers in spades, all honest, he had been less willing to impart truths to many of her questions beside his name and that he was an orphan that had been kicked out of the orphanage shortly before finding her. Otherwise, he was tightlipped about the whole thing. If she had had more time, enough to make a difference then she might insist that he tell her these things, but what was the point in spending her limited amount of time stressing out the child and getting uncomfortable truths to unsightly questions. If she had had more time to live, maybe she could have done something to change things for him, but she knew it was already drawing to an end. Samira sighed quietly as she looked at her thin wrist. Whatever was happening seemed to cause her body to start breaking down, leaving her thin and emaciated. Her time would be coming to an end very soon.

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"JIJI!" yelled a young voice frantically as a child burst into the Hokage's office, the doors slamming open. The old village leader's eyes went wide with shock and relief. The child that had gone missing for over two month had suddenly appeared in his office and the old man found himself thanking the gods above. His relief was quickly replaced with fear as the child's sobbing met his old ears, his old eyes locked on the blood he spotted on the child's clothing. The older man surged to his feet quickly to check the child over for injury mounting fury nearly making his hands shake. If someone had hurt Naruto, he would kill them himself.

"Naruto? Naruto. Naruto! What's happened?" he demanded as he tried to get the child's attention in his panicked state, sharp eyes taking in the blood that dotted the boy's clothing and the tears on the child's face as he turned the distraught child this way and that looking for injury.

"I don't know what happened! One moment she was fine, an' the next she was shaking on the ground! I told her to go to the doctor, but she said the bad men would find her an' she didn't wan' them to so you've got to make sure no one finds out about her, ok Jiji?" demanded the sobbing child as he grabbed the elder man's hand and all but dragged him along, worry clear on the old man's features.

"Naruto, who are you talking about?" demanded the village elder as they made their way swiftly through the office, the man signaling the secretary to leave them be as they passed, also signaling his Anbu body guards to stay put. If things were as the child described, discretion would be best. He didn't need the council finding out about a possible incident that could be blamed on the boy. The third Hokage knew that some would try and take advantage of events to make a power play if they had the chance.

"Samira-nee. I has been staying with her for a while now. She's really special to me Jiji," the blonde hacked out through his sobs and tears as the old man shot Naruto a sharp look at the boy's words. The idea of the boy being taken someone's home without telling him was rather alarming. They burst out of the Hokage tower and started heading for the tree line to the Hokage's surprise and resignation. So the child had been hiding in the woods this whole time. It didn't make him feel any better about the whole thing.

The boy immediately cut a swift path through the forest, until they reached a clearing where a young woman lay deathly still. The Hokage's eye widened in surprise as he took in the pale looking young woman. He had seen corpses with better color and for a moment feared that she was already dead. His dread dissolved quickly as he frowned, moving forward to kneel beside her prone form as he looked her over carefully, taking in the short red hair that was only a couple inches long and the gently rising chest that indicated that she was still alive.

"She started shaking an' then when it stopped she told me to put something in her mouth so she wouldn't bite off her tongue an' then she bit me! By accident I mean," The child explained through his sniffles and hiccups as he crouched next to the unconscious young woman, grasping her hand in both of his. The Hokage's lips tightened as he crouched to rub the child's back comfortingly, a part of him taking note that Naruto was not shying away from the gentle touch like usual.

"Her hair fell off an' then started growing all red which is weird 'cause her hair is curly an' brown an' stuff. Um, I'm not really sure what else happened but she passed out an' I started crying. I kept feeling more an' more tired Jiji, an' then everything went dark. Then I woke up, she was asleep an' I went an' got you after putting a blanket on her. Is she going to be ok?" demanded the blonde worriedly after speaking nonstop, tearstained eyes red and tired. The older man froze in place at the description of what had happened before his grip on the child tightened.

Quietly he pulled the child into his lap and held him close, rocking him quietly as he thanked the heavens once more. All these symptoms pointed to one explanation, and Naruto was very lucky to be alive. So was the young woman for that matter. This wouldn't be the first time that someone from the forbidden lake had accidentally bitten someone during their metamorphosis, and changed because of the blood of the host.

He could help but sigh, feeling already a weary even though it was just morning. Holding the boy was his only comfort at the moment, one of the day's mysteries having been solved. To think that the day had only just begun.

There was no way all of this could have just been a coincidence, with all the details that Naruto had just described. This sounded just like a patient from the Forbidden Lake and there was one currently missing from the Konoha Hospital, who was also a female with brown curly hair and brown eyes, like the young woman Naruto had described, who they had declared dead over three weeks. The fact that she had survived two months without treatment was rare. Without the proper medical equipment and healers on hand, it was unlikely that she would have been able to receive enough chakra to complete the transformation process that was brought on by her body attempting the metamorphosis. Naruto growing tired from a bite suggested that she had begun draining the boy's life energy during her change. If it had been anyone else they would have died.

Long ago it had been established by Konoha's leading scientists that when people from that other world, beyond the lake's waters, managed to pass through the lake their bodies began to deteriorate swiftly. This happened because the body was incompatible with this world. The interesting thing about this though, was that their bodies, instilled with the drive to survive, began to unconsciously attempt to adapt, and by adapt, their bodies tried to generate chakra.

This was usually the starting point of the metamorphosis, for those people. Their bodies would begin to generate Chakra at a tremendous rate because the body had nothing in its DNA to properly augment the process, which would quickly drain the life out of the body as it began overproducing chakra, usually leading to a swift and painful death for the patient. The trick that the workers at the Lake hospital and the Konoha researchers had found, had been something that had been discovered by accident many years ago. It had been when one of the foreigners had begun to go through their transformation earlier than expected.

The person had gone into seizures and had accidentally bitten a hospital worker, only to transform afterwards. They still hadn't lived long afterwards since the transformation had still taken a great toll on the body despite the body having the DNA needed to create the proper amount of chakra, but it had set the researchers at the hospital and hidden base on the right path. After all, the person's appearance had altered greatly, and the staff wanted to know why only to realize what had been taking place in the transformation process itself. It took many years of trial and error, but the staff soon came to the conclusion that the foreigners could survive the transformation IF they had a compatible DNA type chosen for them, and they had a team of specialized medical ninjas feeding the patient chakra through the transformation process, to keep the body from overproducing. However, to the researcher's irritation, they found that even after the metamorphosis was over with, the patient's bodies still overdrew on chakra, which would kill them eventually.

Overproducing and overdrawing chakra was a rare phenomenon with these people, since it was the body breaking itself down into energy faster than the body could handle, leading to a vicious cycle. Their bodies got used to producing more energy because of their overproduction of it and thus the person in question couldn't maintain their health as the breakdown process gradually sped up over time, giving these people a year to live at best. Indeed, it was a pity, but despite the DNA samples used to curb the breakdown rate, there was still the problem that their bodies, for whatever reason, needed more chakra than most to function, even if they were civilians. Their physical bodies could not handle the strain. More chakra seemed to be the key and it had been discovered that these people, if they went through monthly transfusions of chakra, lived longer than those without.

But out of all the people the foreigner had come across, she had come across Naruto, a tailed beast container (also called a Jinjuriki), with huge energy reserves for his age. Tail beasts themselves were a manifestation of pure chakra that would run amok unless sealed in a human, like Naruto, and just for housing the beast, the child was shunned. It was one of the reason's that Jinjuriki meant 'human sacrifice,' seeing as their social life and future were either nonexistent or severely limited. Naruto's future was already limited to one profession and the Hokage's lips tightened knowing that the child would have to become a ninja in the future.

Out of everyone she could have come across, Naruto would have been the only one to have enough chakra to fuel her change, and from the look of it, her having red hair and all, Naruto's Uzumaki blood decided to help her along. It was probably the only reason she was alive despite having the chakra needed to fuel the change.

The Uzumaki bloodline where known for their special chakra and vitality, the oldest most founding member of the Uzumaki family having lived to great age. Uzumaki Mito, who had lived well before the time of Konoha's founding and well into the third Hokage's reign, his reign, was a perfect example of the power of the Uzumaki bloodline. They had never tried giving the foreigners Uzumaki blood before.

There was no telling what would happen now… All Hiruzen could hope for was that Naruto wasn't too attached to this woman. There was a possibility that she would only live a few more years, or that she wasn't a person Hiruzen could allow to live in the village. They had had some low lives come through the lake before, it wouldn't be a first time. Hiruzen would have to have blood tests and chakra readings done on her to gauge how well her body was handling everything that had happened to it so far, and to see the decay rate of her cells.

He would also have to call Inoichi to come and take a look through her mind to see if she was to be trusted.

"She should be fine for now Naruto. We've actually been looking for her for a while now without any luck for the past few weeks." muttered the Hokage distractedly as he turned her head to the side to take in the young woman's features.

"We'll talk about this later, Naruto. For now, we need to take her to the hospital for-"

"No! You can't. The bad ninja will find her," cut in Naruto as he jumped up the Hokage's lap to lay over the unconscious woman as if he could shield her from the idea. Hiruzen frowned as he took in the boy crouched before him. Despite the fact that Naruto was barefooted, his clothing too big, the child was clean, his feet unmarred, the clothing new. He had clearly had a growth spurt very recently, the boy already bigger since the last time he had seen him. All in all, he looked better than he had living at the orphanage where people were being paid to care for children, not like he had been living with a fugitive in the woods for two months. If Hiruzen hadn't seen the small stack of supplies that had been carefully hidden in the camp or the old fire sight, then he wouldn't have believed that they had been living out here. It sent a burn of anger washing through his stomach as he thought of the orphanage.

Naruto continued to stare at him. The seriousness in his young eyes held weight that they usually didn't carry.

"The bad ninja?" Hiruzen asked, his voice deepening slightly with concern. Naruto nodded swiftly, his face grim as he gripped her tighter.

"Uh huh. She said that there were some bad people after her. She was going to leave the village, but… I made her stay," said the boy quietly, looking shame faced as his lower lip began to tremble. Hiruzen's frown deepened. There where ninja after her? Who would- Hiruzen's eyes widened in realization. Danzo… if anyone would go after her, it would be him. Orochimaru wouldn't have been able to locate her that swiftly, even if he had spies strewn all throughout Konoha. Very few had known of her location in the hospital, because of the kidnapping of the other two people from the Lake.

She had been placed in a special ward reserved for the treatment of Anbu Black Ops. There where sensor seals and alert seals placed over every entrance and exit that should have stopped her if she tried to leave the hospital, so someone must have either deactivated the seals with the key sequence or put a seal on her that would allow her to pass. He was the only one that Hiruzen could think of that would have the means, information and motive to do such a thing. Besides, who would think twice about her disappearing after all? Danzo could turn her into an expendable asset with the right blood mixture, cursed seals, and brainwashing.

The people that came from the lake where know to be rather powerful even if they didn't live long, with their affinity for every element, flexible and growing chakra coils, and their resilience to toxins since the world they came from was full of very potent toxins, most of which in the air from the cars they drove or the plants that released toxic waste into the air. The fact that this foreign race didn't originally have chakra made them physically more durable and toned in muscle mass than most shinobi since they couldn't use chakra in their world to help power their motions when they did exercise.

And then there was the fact that most of the people that came through the lake where highly educated, fast learners and very sensitive to different chakras since they didn't have any in their world. Some even had the training to condition and strengthen their muscles for sports, or taijutsu disciplines along with everything else in their already large arsenal of information. There had been musicians, warriors, engineers, fast food workers, bums, doctors… you name it, and it was more likely than not that they had traveled through the lake and into this world. So many skills and specializations, Hiruzen's head swam every time he thought about how elite these people where.

Hiruzen shook his head, berating himself for not realizing sooner the potential threat taking the young woman from the lake would pose. If Root had been able to take her then he should have made the security tighter... The question, however, was how she was able to get away from them… the idea made Hiruzen frown. There was something about this situation that just wasn't adding up right… To get away from kidnappers, what had she done? She must be one of those unusually skilled and intelligent individuals if she had been able to accomplish such a feat and stay undetected so long even in the heart of a ninja village itself.

The thought made the older man feel rather uncomfortable considering the young woman had been staying almost two months with the boy he considered his grandson and ward in all but name. Naruto had said that she was nice, but what if she had been using the boy? It didn't sound like it, but he was still going to have Inoichi use the mind walking techniques on her to determine how she thought and what kind of person she was. From there they would figure out what to do regarding her future, even if it would be a short-lived one. He would have to have one of his shinobi in the blood labs run a confidential series of test on her cells decay rate to see how long they would be expecting her to live. He would probably have to pull Nara Shikaku, his jonin commander and head of the Nara Clan, his chief strategist into the mess as well. The man was a brilliant tactician, who was bound to notice what Hiruzen missed when making his plans. Finally coming to his decision, the man nodded.

"Alright Naruto, we'll make sure to keep this quiet, but we are going to have to take some precautions for her safety," said the aging man as the boy nodded, clearly relieved. His tense shoulder seemed to loosen and he relaxed into her side with a sigh of relief. With the threat of danger gone, the child's fatigue began to catch up with him and he nestled into her side, already blinking tiredly as he rubbed and eye.

"Ok Jiji," he murmured quietly, before dropping off to sleep the old man's lips pursed. Naruto was clearly used to being tucked into her side to sleep. Hiruzen felt his heart clenching at the sight and he found himself dearly praying in his heart that this woman would turn out to be good.

Making up his mind the Hokage turned to leave. He had a lot of work to do, but the first thing that needed to be done was to get Yamanaka Inoichi.

Having her mind read was going to take top priority.

* * *

Inoichi frowned slightly as he looked down at the unconscious young woman that was on the couch in the Hokage's living room. The room was dark with dusk, the curtains drawn to hide the presence of those in the old traditional home. The older blond man knelt silently to take in the features of the young woman before him, his gaze lingering on her red hair.

"And you want me to mind read her?" he asked as he shot a questioning look towards his leader. Hiruzen nodded grimly as the Anbu behind him motioned that perimeter was clear before melting into the shadows.

"Yes. Now would be best. Naruto is currently asleep and we can talk without worries of being overheard. I've already placed silencing seals on the living room," rumbled the older man around his pipe as the blond-haired Yamanaka's lips pursed slightly, in thought.

"How far back do you want me to go into her mind?" he asked as Hiruzen frowned thoughtfully at the man's question.

"Everything," he said as the long-haired blond man's eyes widened.

"That's quite a bit. This will take some time, Hokage-sama," he said as the old man nodded grimly.

"Take all the time you need," he said as he Left the room. The blonde haired man watched him go before sighing. Inoichi hated mind reading, invading privacy to such an extent, but it had to be done. With that he placed his hand on her damp brow, his pale blue eyes sliding shut. What Inoichi didn't expect was how swiftly he was pulled into her mind.

**Mind walk**

_Her and Naruto_, he thought. Inoichi nearly winced under the barrage of information that assailed him when he tried to summon memories of them together. They were gardening in the forest to grow vegetables. Then they were hunting for rabbits using snares and traps. They had followed a deer onto the Nara land only to get chased off by a clan member.

The garden was growing good and the traps worked well though. They gathered edible plants, and mushroom. She taught him how to garden, hunt, snare. She taught him how to climb, to sneak, to move quietly, to cook using an open fire and a cooking pot. How to season food, and find fresh water. He learned quickly, starved for attention as well as her approval and soon the boy was self sufficient. It had been her plan from the beginning, knowing that she would be dying soon. She worried about him, what would happen to him after she was gone.

The boy was lonely, he needed her, just like she needed him. She hated herself for being so weak, for needing the emotional support, for letting herself care so quickly, but how could she not? He was such an inquisitive child. He was kind and loud and brash and honest, but under that cheer and curiosity, extremely vulnerable. How could she not love him and want to help him? He reminded her of the little brother she never had and the older brother that had died before his time. Ingrained protectiveness over him reared its ugly head over the memories and Inoichi found himself swiftly blocked away from her warm happy memories of the two of them. _People use the information they know about you against you, protect him, don't let him see, protect Naruto,_ whispered a voice through the memories that now zipped past. He grabbed onto another random one desperately. He didn't want to be ejected from her mind so soon.

Her looking over scrolls that the two of them had snuck out of the library. They were in the forest as Naruto peered curiously at their contents and her rapidly absorbing the knowledge of the scrolls before explaining it to the child. He could see the way she shifted through the information and how she reached her conclusions based on the information available as she learned. Memories began to whip past swiftly and he grabbed another. A bright summer day, a child version of herself running towards the water on a small island in the middle of a lake. A shadowy figure appeared stopping her and he was forcibly ejected from the memory, this time focusing hard. More memories. He reached out again.

The two of them on a training field gathering Kunai and Shuriken that had been left behind and abandoned. Her in a Dojo training students. Her as a child learning to fight. Her as an adult running in fear, someone chasing her the slap of large feet on wet concrete filling her ears as her heart pounded wildly, her breathing harsh. Just around the corner and-

BANG!

PAIN! Pain, pain painpainpainbloodmyarm, oh God. _No hesitation. No remorse. You kill them before they kill you. That was that_. The knife was out and in her hand less than a millisecond later before she skidded to a stop, her body falling into a crouch catching her assailant by surprise as he sprinted at her. He tried to raise the gun again but this time she moved too quickly, stepping into his guard. The knife flashed with deadly speed and there was a spray of blood on the grimy alley wall as she severed his carotid artery. His eyes went wide as a hand pressed against the side of his neck. Seconds later, his form slumped to the ground in unconsciousness leaving her standing there blankly as she tried to process this. He would be dead before the medics could help him but she made no move to stop the bleeding. Huh. Interesting. She didn't feel panic anymore. In fact, she couldn't really feel anything. Just calm. Must be the shock talking. Calmly she raised the phone to call her stepfather before calling the police.

He continued going through memories. Friends, school, training, work, family.

Inoichi tried to get into memories of her childhood but found himself swiftly brought to a large field. There were trees to the left and right leaving a long tree line before him, the gloom managing to look bright and dark at the same time as the wind went sweeping harshly over the grass causing tree limbs to creak under the strain, clouds promising rain and maybe a bit of lightning overhead. To the left of the field was a large stone that protruded from the earth, steady and unmoving in the face of the wind. Inoichi frowned as he started towards the stone, seeing something on its cracked surface. When he drew close enough he found it to be carved with the symbol of a spiral.

That's when _she_ stepped out from behind the stone.

Inoichi started in shock and took a step back from the young woman who was standing before him with her arms crossed, eyes dark and dangerous, face unreadable. Without another thought he broke the jutsu.

**Mind walk ends**

With that, Inoichi pulled himself from her memories before finding himself back in his body. Blinking blearily he looked around the quiet living room before sighing. He was going to have to do this in bursts then. She wasn't simple minded like a lot of the ninja he had had to read and she had managed to sense him. He was going to have to use stronger techniques to get the information that they were wanting.

...,,,...,,,,...,,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...

"Well? How did it go? What did you find?" asked the Hokage as Inoichi eased himself further back into his seat to get comfortable. It had been a long afternoon and it was now night, the Hokage's traditional manor lit with warm light and the smell of food filling the air. The child was asleep in the back room, much to Inoichi's discomfort. While he might have nothing against the child, he did have a problem with the Demon that was sealed inside of him. It had only been eight years since that fateful night and despite the time that had passed some wounds didn't become any less raw with time. The Demon's attack on the village had been utterly devastating, the death count unimaginable. It had been a miracle that other villages hadn't decided to take advantage of their weakened state, one that had been paid in blood since the other villages had suffered greater losses in life from the most recent Ninja War than them. Without the forces needed to attack, the other villages had been forced to watch with gritted teeth as the Hidden Leaf Village slowly began to recover, unable to avenge their previous loss.

"Inoichi?" called the Hokage pulling him from his thoughts. The other man looked up, eyes widening before he smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry sir. I don't even know where to start," he admitted easily as the older men frowned.

"Very well. Let's start at the beginning," said the older man. Inoichi sighed as he tugged on a strand of his long dark blonde hair before his teal gaze met the Hokage's, his face grim.

..,,..,,..,,..,,,...,,,...,,,..,,..,,,...,,,,...

Hiruzen puffed away on his pipe deep in thought as he mulled over everything that Inoichi had told him of the young woman. The fact that she could speak their language was an astonishing factor. It had never happened before, and a part of him wondered in their language had ended up on the other side of the lake like the foreigner's language had ended up on this side. She was unusually intelligent and well learned, according to Inoichi's report, already knowledgeable in taijutsu, and basic weaponry, another odd factor. He sighed as he kneaded his forehead tiredly, a headache coming on.

Inoichi had suggested that she was going to want to become a ninja, with or without their help, if she was going to live long enough. He had said that she had already determined that Ninja were the strongest in this world, that this was a sink or swim world, harsh in a way hers was not, bloodshed on the daily a common occurrence while in her world it was considered a crime to be punished. This was mainly from listening to the villagers speaking without their awareness enough to discern these things, but discern she had. What had thrown the Hokage for a loop was when Inoichi supported the idea of her becoming a shinobi, if she survived her physical limitations.

_"Inoichi, do you know what you ask?" questioned the older man quietly, "We would have to come up with a soundproof cover for her for her to become a part of this village, and even then, it would be difficult for this to work. She is from an entirely different world. She would have to learn years and years' worth of skills in a brief amount of time."_

_"She already knows a lot about our culture, and she even knows enough taijutsu for that to be pulled off as her specialization if it came to that."_

Hiruzen sighed tiredly. Inoichi was getting ahead of himself. There really wasn't going to be a point of them even speculating over her future, because no one from the lake had ever survived longer than a year or two, however, it seemed Inoichi wasn't as familiar with the people from the forbidden lake. Deciding that there would be no point in arguing with the blonde man Hiruzen waved a hand dismissively, deciding to humor the other man.

"As for her cover?" Hiruzen questioned as he puffed away on his pipe.

"Nara Shikaku. You know how brilliant he is with coming up with plans and creating strategies. I suspect that you were thinking about calling him into this long before I even began the mind walk, if she proved useful, isn't that true, Sir?" said the blonde with a sly grin as the older man huffed in annoyance before starting to puff on his pipe irritably. Inoichi's chuckle filled the den as the Hokage shot him an annoyed look. The fact that she probably wasn't going to live and the fact that Inoichi assumed that he was correct was aggravating. Hiruzen liked the sound of her and it was a frustration to him that they would have no power over keeping her alive. To even suggest a cover story was like rubbing salt in a wound for him. Naruto was clearly bonded with her and her him.

"We will see." Said the older man as Inoichi sent him an apologetic grin to which the Hokage merely shook his head in frustration. His jonin's inability to see the big picture could be so irritating sometimes.

* * *

**NOTE: the story _'Unlikely Survival,'_ is set a few years before Naruto graduates from the academy. **


End file.
